Caps @ Predators 3-10-2009 Preview

Washington Capitals (40-27; 86 points; 1st Southeast Division, 3rd Eastern Conference, 5th Overall) @ Nashville Predators (33-33; 70 points; 4th Central Division, 7th Western Conference, 17th Overall):
Caps Game #68, Road Game #32, NHL Game #996

Sommet Center, Nashville, TN, 8:08 pm. Washington TV: Comcast Sportsnet Mid-Atlantic. Radio: WFED 1500-AM. Nashville TV: Fox SportsNet Tennessee. Radio: WGFX 104.5-FM. NHL Center Ice: Fox SportsNet Tennessee, Comcast Sportsnet Mid-Atlantic feeds.

Tonight the Caps hit the road, where they've won their last three games, and leave the Eastern Time zone for the first time since November when they travel to Nashville to face the Predators. Nashville is coming off a 4-1 loss to the Flyers in Philadelphia on Saturday night which snapped a six game winning streak. The Predators have won their last five games on home ice.

What The Natives Are Saying:

(Com)Post. Times: changing tones, NHL Report. Caps.com.

Neutral Views:

NHL.com AP Wire.

Open Source Intelligence:

Tennessean: not offended, returning to action, Game Preview. Predators.com.

What Do We Expect Tonight?:

The Caps are back out on the road where things have gone better recently compared to at home. However, Nashville is no pushover hockey team. They are fighting for their playoff lives right now in the Western Conference where only two of the fifteen teams are totally out of the race. Nashville has the best home ice penalty killing in the NHL so the Caps are going to have to look for scoring outside of their second ranked Power Play unit in order to get the win tonight. But we we're looking for the most is the Caps getting back to their basics which is much easier to do away from home. Teams often play a simpler game on the road because they don't feel the pressure to put on a show for the hometown crowd. We can only hope that is the case for the Caps tonight.

Caps Nut Official Prediction:

Caps 3
Nashville 2
Winner by Semin

(6-6 on the season)